Friday, July 8, 2016

CHAIN OF COMMAND, BENGHAZI

WHO CAN COMMAND U.S. TROOP MOVEMENT?The Chain of Command is discussed in a Department of Defense document entitled "Overview of National Security Structure".

Below are excerpts:

1) Regarding the President and Secretary of Defense - they are the top people in the military chain of command

"Constitutionally, the ultimate authority and responsibility for the national defense rests with the President. Since the passage of the National Security Act of 1947, the President has used the Secretary of Defense as his principal assistant in all matters relating to the National Military Establishment (NME) -- later the Department of Defense. The Secretary has statutory authority, direction, and control over the Military Departments and is responsible for the effective, efficient, and economical operation of the department.

"The National Command Authorities (NCA) are the President and Secretary of Defense together with their duly deputized alternates or successors. The term NCA is used to signify constitutional authority to direct the Armed Forces in their execution of military action. Both inter-theater movement of troops and execution of military action must be directed by the NCA. By law, no one else in the chain of command has the authority to take such action."

2) Regarding the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) , he can be co-opted into the top leadership of the military chain of command:

"By the Goldwater-Nichols DOD Reorganization Act of 1986, Congress clarified the command line to the combatant commanders and preserve civilian control of the military.

The Act states that the operational chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the combatant commanders. The Act permits the President to direct that communications pass through CJCS. This authority places CJCS in the communications chain. Further, the Act gives the Secretary of Defense wide latitude to assign the Chairman oversight responsibilities over the activities of the combatant commanders. "

PERIOD.THE END.

AGAIN.....WHO CAN DIRECT TROOP MOVEMENT?

"Constitutionally, the ultimate authority and responsibility for the
national defense rests with the President. Since the passage of the
National Security Act of 1947, the President has used the Secretary of
Defense as his principal assistant in all matters relating to the
National Military Establishment (NME) -- later the Department of
Defense. The Secretary has statutory authority, direction, and control
over the Military Departments and is responsible for the effective,
efficient, and economical operation of the department.

"The
National Command Authorities (NCA) are the President and Secretary of
Defense together with their duly deputized alternates or successors." #1-THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND

#2- THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

NOT THE SECRETARY OF STATE, NOT THE STATE DEPARTMENT, NOT THE VICE PRESIDENT...JUST THE PRESIDENT AND THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.

TIMELINE, BENGHAZI....

At 10:32 p.m. in Libya (4:32 p.m. in Washington), 50 minutes after the
incident began, the National Military Command Center, (NMCC) which is the
operations center at the Pentagon where Ham is overseeing the
operation, notifies Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of
Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey of the attack.

NOTICE THE CHAIN OF COMMAND!

THE PENTAGON, NMCC, NOTIFIED WHO FIRST?NOT CLINTON!CLINTON WAS NOT IN THAT CHAIN OF COMMAND!

PANETTA WAS!

At 5 p.m. in Washington, D.C. (11 p.m. in Libya), nearly an hour and a half after the attack began,
according to the Pentagon’s timeline, “Secretary Panetta and General
Dempsey attend a previously scheduled meeting with the President at the
White House.” The attack has already been under way for 78 minutes, but
no rescue forces from outside Libya have yet been mobilized.

WHO ORDERS SUCH MOBILIZATION OF MILITARY FORCES?

NOT THE STATE DEPARTMENT, NOT IN A MILLION YEARS!

From 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. D.C. time, at the Pentagon, Panetta, Dempsey and Ham meet to discuss additional response options.

Sometime
over the next two hours, according to the official Pentagon timeline, PANETTA gives the “go code” for two Marine FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorism
Security) teams to prepare to leave Rota, Spain.

A Special Operations force which is training in Central Europe is
told to “prepare to deploy to an intermediate staging base in southern
Europe" (Sigonella, Sicily), and a Special Operations team in the U.S. is
told to prepare to deploy to Sigonella as well.

It isn’t until 2:53 a.m. (about five hours after the incident began) that those orders are formalized BY PANETTA and the teams are told they can leave.

DO YOU SEE THAT?BY PANETTA...PANETTA...PANETTA, NOT CLINTON, BECAUSE CLINTON HAD NO SPOT IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.

WHY DID IT TAKE SO LONG FOR TROOP DEPLOYMENT?

Panetta said that without
real-time information about what was happening, he, Dempsey and Army
Gen. Carter F. Ham, who leads U.S. Africa Command, all “felt very
strongly that we could not put forces at risk in that situation.”[Why, why wasn't the CIA providing just that information that Panetta desperately needed? They were right there inside the 'embassy'!They could see what was going on! They had phone contact!]

“Unfortunately, no
alternative or additional aircraft options were available within …
[enough time] to be effective,” a senior DoD official said. “Due to the
incomplete intelligence picture on the ground, armed aircraft options
were simply not feasible.”

[INCOMPLETE INTELLIGENCE? THE CIA HAD THAT BUT DIDN'T GIVE THAT. WHY NOT?]

“There are people out there
who have suggested that an overhead surveillance aircraft could have
perfect visibility into what was happening on the ground, and on that
basis alone, you could send in a team. That is not
necessarily how things work. It’s not like you dial
up the U.S. military and service members go down a fire pole, hop on a
fire engine and go. That’s not how our forces work, especially from a
cold start,” according to thesenior U.S. defense official who briefed the Pentagon timeline.

“We are an excellent military, finest in the world, always prepared, but we are neither omniscient nor omnipresent,” the official stated.

Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told reporters that Defense Secretary Leon E.
Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E.
Dempsey and U.S. Africa Command commander Army Gen. Carter F. Ham
discussed the situation in Benghazi soon after they were notified of the
assault.“There were discussions here at the highest levels
including the secretary as to what kind of response we might be able to
provide,” Little said.

“The secretary ordered appropriate forces
to respond,” he said. “Those forces included FAST (Fleet Anti-terrorism
Security Team) platoons from Europe, a special operations unit in
Central Europe, and another contingent of U.S. troops from the United
States.”

"It takes time to notify troops, organize them and then
transport them", Little said. "It also takes time to develop an
intelligence picture of what they might face on the ground.

“The
fact of the matter is these forces were not in place until after the
attacks were over,” he said.

“Let me be clear. This department took
swift action. We did respond. The secretary ordered forces to move. They
simply were not able to arrive in time.”

AS PANETTA HIMSELF REPLIED TO JOHN McCAIN:

“You can’t just willy-nilly send F-16s there and blow the hell out of the place without knowing what’s taking place.” SIX HOURS SPENT JUST PREPPING TO GO?

It took six hours just for the combat units to prepare to depart for Libya. Not until 17 hours after Panetta issued the order did the CIF finally make it to the staging base in southern Europe [ITALY].

An hour later, one FAST platoon arrived in Tripoli.

Thirty minutes after that, the Special Ops force from the United States arrived in Europe [ITALY].

The Armed Services report also says one FAST platoon was delayed because the troops had to pause at a base to change clothes because of a request from the Libyan government, which, it said, apparently feared combat-ready troops would “unduly alarm or inflame” Libyans.

So, contrary to claims that “not one order” was given to deploy one DoD asset, there were in fact, as was recorded, plenty of orders. to hundreds of 'assets'.

ON WHY PANETTA WAS "SO SLOW TO ACT", LET US DULY REMEMBER THAT LEON PANETTA SERVED EXACTLY 2 YEARS IN
THE MILITARY AS AN ARMY INTELLIGENCE "INSTANT" 2nd LIEUTENANT. A MILITARY STRATEGIC GENIUS HE WAS NOT.

THE MEETING OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND... The DoD timeline records
that in the first hours following the initial attack, Defense Secretary
Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, conferred first with the president, and shortly after
with senior officials including Army Gen. Carter F. Ham, who led U.S.
Africa Command (AFRICOM). Africom’s area of responsibility includes Libya.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT WAS NOT REQUIRED AND WAS NOT CALLED TO THE WHITE HOUSE DURING THE INITIAL CONFERENCES BETWEEN THE MILITARY COMMANDERS, THE PRESIDENT AND THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.

WHY?BECAUSE THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS NOT IN THE MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND.THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS INVOLVED IN FOREIGN POLICY, NOT IN CONDUCTING MILITARY AFFAIRS.

During those meetings, the official said, Panetta verbally ordered two
fleet anti-terrorism security teams, or FAST, platoons to prepare to
deploy from their base in Rota, Spain.

The secretary also issued verbal
prepare-to-deploy orders for a U.S. European Command special operations
force then training in Central Europe and a second special operations
force based in the United States.

ONLY THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF OR PANETTA COULD HAVE ISSUED SUCH ORDERS.WHY?THE CHAIN OF COMMAND.

At 6:30 p.m. EDT, according to
the timeline, a six-person security team, including two DOD (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE) members,
left the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli for Benghazi.

The official noted
the Pentagon’s National Military Command Center staff, within hours of
the attack, began planning support and contingency operations with
transportation and special operations experts, as well as with
representatives from the four services and Africa, Europe and Central
commands.

By 8:39 p.m., the official said, the command center had
started issuing written orders for the forces the secretary had alerted.

At 11 p.m. EDT, the official said, a second unmanned, unarmed
surveillance aircraft relieved the first, and at 11:15 p.m. -- around 5
a.m. Sept. 12 in Benghazi -- the second U.S. facility there, an annex
near the consulate, came under mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire.

By 1:40 a.m. EDT Sept. 12, the first wave of Americans left Benghazi
for Tripoli by airplane, with the second wave, including the bodies of
the fallen, following at 4 a.m. A C-17 aircraft, under Africom
direction, flew the evacuees from Tripoli to Germany later that day, the
official said.DOD was preparing for a range of contingencies that day.

“We were readying for the need to augment security measures at our
facilities in Libya, we were prepared for the possibility of a hostage
situation as well,” Little said. “These were all the things we were
looking at in the midst of an event that we did not know was going to
happen in Benghazi that night.”

Little put one rumor to rest.
There were no AC-130 gunships anywhere near the continent of Africa the
night of Sept. 11, he said. The House Armed Services report makes it clear that Obama told Panetta to do what he needed to do — and that Clinton did not speak with him [PANETTA] on Sept. 11 as deployment decisions were made: “[A]s to specifics” of the U.S. reaction, Secretary Panetta
testified to the Senate that the President “left that up to us.”
Secretary Panetta said the President was “well informed” about events
and worried about American lives.

He and General Dempsey also testified they had no further contact with the President, nor did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ever communicate with them that evening.

WHY DIDN'T THEY CONSULT WITH CLINTON, WITH "STATE" ON TROOP DEPLOYMENT?

BECAUSE THE STATE DEPARTMENT, ITS SECRETARY (CLINTON) ARE NOT IN THE CHAIN OF MILITARY COMMAND.

THE ONE AND ONLY ROLE THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE PLAYS IN DEPLOYMENT OF U.S. MILITARY IS TO SERVE AS ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL (NSC), AND EVEN THAT COUNCIL AS A WHOLE CANNOT SEND A SINGLE MEMBER OF THE MILITARY ANYWHERE.

THAT REQUIRES THE PRESIDENT AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENT (SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND JOINT CHIEFS)...PERIOD.

WHAT ALMOST EVERYONE IS IGNORING, FAILING TO POST TO SOCIAL MEDIA, FAILING TO MENTION IS THAT THE REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN OF THE BENGHAZI 'INVESTIGATION', TREY GOWDY, ON MAY 17 OF THIS YEAR, TOLD THE PRESS THAT THE MILITARY COULD NOT HAVE REACHED THE CIA COMPLEX IN TIME TO SAVE AMBASSADOR STEVENS AND SMITH.

THAT IS THE SAD FACT OF THE MATTER.THAT IS THE TRUTH.

THERE WAS FAILURE TO BE PREPARED FOR SUCH A THING AND THAT FAILURE DOES, INDEED, NEED TO BE ADDRESSED, STARTING WITH WHY THE CIA DID NOT PROVIDE BETTER, MORE HONEST ASSESSMENT OF THE GROWING PROBLEM WITH LOCALS IN BENGHAZI, LOCALS THEY KNEW HAD DISCOVERED THAT (1) THE CIA WAS INTERROGATING LIBYAN PRISONERS, AND (2) GUNS WERE BEING RUN FROM THAT COMPLEX.

THE CIA ANSWERS TO NO ONE, WHICH WAS MADE OBVIOUS WHEN IT WAS FORMED (EVEN ITS BUDGET IS 'TOP SECRET'), BUT THAT SHOULD BE CHANGED.

THE FAILURE ON THE PART OF THE CIA "INTELLIGENCE" AND THE CIA FAILURE TO REQUEST MILITARY SECURITY BE STRENGTHENED IN BENGHAZI MUST BE INVESTIGATED, AS MUST THE VERY REAL POSSIBILITY THAT THE CIA EITHER ALLOWED STEVENS' DEATH OR CAUSED IT.

AGAIN, WHAT IS PLAINLY PUT, JUST BELOW THIS LINE, IS THE TRUTH, NO RESCUE OF STEVENS WAS POSSIBLE BY U.S. MILITARY THAT NIGHT, THEY WERE TOO FAR AWAY EXCEPT FOR THOSE IN TRIPOLI, BUT WE MUST CHANGE HOW SOON TROOPS CAN BE DEPLOYED IN CRISIS SITUATIONS WHEN AMERICAN LIVES ARE IN DANGER.

The
panel’s chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South
Carolina, told Fox News: “Whether or not they could have gotten there in
time, I don’t think there’s any issue with respect to that. THEY COULDN'T. The next question is: Why could you not? Why were you not
positioned to do it?”GOP REP. 'BUCK McKEON WAS
THE ONE WHO RELEASED THE 450+ PAGES OF ONCE "SECRET" TESTIMONY OF ALL
THE PENTAGON BRASS AND OF OTHER MILITARY AND STATE DEPARTMENT MEMBERS
WHO WERE IN BENGHAZI THAT FATEFUL NIGHT.

THE FULL BRUNT OF
RESPONSIBILITY AS TO WHAT ORDERS WERE GIVEN, THE ONLY ORDERS THAT COULD
HAVE BEEN GIVEN AFTER THE PRESIDENT TOLD PANETTA TO DO WHATEVER WAS NECESSARY, LAY WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THE PENTAGON.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES NO ORDERS FOR U.S. TROOP MOVEMENT.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT IS NOT CONSTITUTIONALLY AUTHORIZED TO COMMAND U.S. TROOPS, NOR IS IT 'IN THE LOOP' AS OUTLINED BY THE MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND 'OVERVIEW OF NATIONAL SECURITY STRUCTURE', NOR IS IT AUTHORIZED TO DO SO IN 'THE GOLDWATER-NICHOLS ACT'.IF MORE AMERICANS READ SUCH DOCUMENTS AND MADE IT THEIR BUSINESS TO KNOW SUCH THINGS, MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, THEIR CHOSEN PARTY'S PROPAGANDIZING 'B.S.' WOULD NOT BE SO READILY SWALLOWED.

IF AMERICANS WERE SO MUCH AS BASICALLY ACQUAINTED WITH THEIR OWN U.S. CONSTITUTION, NONE COULD HAVE BEEN DUPED BY PARTY POLITICS IN THIS ELECTION YEAR (OR ANY OTHER YEAR) WHEN IT COMES TO WHO CAN DO WHAT IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.THEY WOULD HAVE KNOWN WHO WAS IN THAT CHAIN OF COMMAND.

THIS LUNACY ABOUT A "STAND-DOWN ORDER" COULD NOT HAVE GROWN INTO WHAT IT IS TODAY HAD AMERICANS HAD EVEN A RUDIMENTARY KNOWLEDGE OF WHO CAN ISSUE SUCH A THING.

GENERAL CARTER HAM, IN CHARGE OF AFRICOM AND THEREFORE OF LIBYAN TROOP MOVEMENT, ADMITTED TO THE NEAREST THING TO A "STAND-DOWN" ORDER WHEN HE APPEARED BEFORE THAT REPUBLICAN-LAUNCHED "INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE" AND TOLD THEM WHAT HE HAD ORDERED.

HAM SAID IT WAS HIS CALL TO PREVENT THE TEAM FROM TRIPOLI FROM GOING TO BENGHAZI.HE SAID HE ORDERED EVERYONE IN TRIPOLI TO 'REMAIN IN PLACE' BECAUSE THEY FULLY EXPECTED AN ATTACK ON THE EMBASSY IN TRIPOLI FOLLOWING THE BENGHAZI ATTACK.

HE WANTED PROTECTION FOR AMERICAN INSTALLATIONS, AND THE AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO STAFFED THEM IN TRIPOLI.

HAM'S STATEMENT WAS BACKED UP BY THE MILITARY TEAM LEADER IN TRIPOLI WHO REQUESTED CLEARANCE TO TAKE A HANDFUL OF MEN AND FOLLOW THE CIA'S HIRED TEAM TO BENGHAZI.

ANOTHER MILITARY TOP BRASS DID NOT AGREE WITH HAM'S DECISION...

Air Force Brigadier General Robert Lovell (ret.) was the key witness at today’s hearing,
the latest in a string of inquisitions from Oversight Committee chair
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) into Benghazi since the 2012 tragedy.

During
his testimony, Lovell raised eyebrows by insisting that the U.S. did not
try to save the Americans stationed in the eastern Libyan city. “The
discussion is not in the ‘could or could not’ in relation to time, space
and capability, the point is we should have tried,” Lovell, who served
at U.S. Africa Command’s headquarters in Germany the night of the
attack, told the panel.

SOME
OF THE MOST RESPECTED NAMES IN THE U.S. MILITARY TESTIFIED FOR OVER 30
HOURS BEFORE A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING, AND, TO THE MAN, ALL SWORE ON OATH
THAT THERE WAS NO, NOT ONE, STAND-DOWN ORDER ISSUED BY THE STATE
DEPARTMENT OR THE WHITE HOUSE.

THEY ALL ALSO TESTIFIED THAT
THERE WAS NO QUICK HELP AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME FOR STEVENS AND THE
OTHERS, THAT ANY RESCUE THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED WOULD HAVE ARRIVED
TOO LATE.

450 PAGES OF DECLASSIFIED, BUT REDACTED, TESTIMONY
BY THESE MILITARY HEADS (AND OTHERS WHO WERE THERE) WERE MADE AVAILABLE
IN 2014, BUT WAS EITHER UNDER-REPORTED OR NOT REPORTED, OR WAS MANIPULATED BY THOSE LIKE FOX 'NEWS' TO CHANGE WORDS, TO DENY THAT OUR MILITARY WAS SIMPLY ILL-PREPARED AND THAT WAS ONE OF THE MAIN MISTAKES THAT COST US THE LIVES LOST.

THE CIA "WENT ROGUE" DURING THAT BENGHAZI ATTACK.

WHEN ITS OWN HIRED TEAM ARRIVED AT THE AIRPORT THAT NIGHT, THEY WERE DETAINED FOR ABOUT 4 HOURS BY LIBYANS, AND SOME OF THOSE LIBYANS ADMITTED THEY WERE ALSO PAID BY THE CIA AS "SECURITY".

WHY THE LONG DETENTION AT THE AIRPORT?HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

WHEN THE TEAM FINALLY GOT THERE THEY DISCOVERED SEVERAL THINGS THAT THE CIA WOULD LATER STATE AS FACT WERE ACTUALLY LIES.

(1) THAT TEAM, AS WELL AS CONGRESS, WERE TOLD THAT THE CIA FORCES COULD NOT GET BACK TO THE BUILDING WHERE STEVENS WAS, NOR HAD THEIR AGENTS BEEN ABLE TO LOCATE STEVENS.

IT TOOK THE SPECIAL TEAM OF JUST 7 MEN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES TO GET INTO THAT BUILDING, AFTER THEY IGNORED THE CIA STATION CHIEF'S ORDERS TO "STAND DOWN", TO STAY PUT AND NOT TRY TO RESCUE STEVENS AND SMITH.

ONCE THEY WENT FOR IT, THEY ACCOMPLISHED IN SHORT ORDER WHAT THE CIA SAID IT HAD FAILED TO DO.WITH ONE SINGLE TOSSED GRENADE AND A RUSH OF THE BUILDING, THEY GOT IN.WHY HADN'T THE CIA?

THEY FOUND SMITH'S BODY BUT WERE HUSTLED OUT OF THE BUILDING BY NEWLY BRAVE CIA AGENTS AND MADE THEIR WAY OVER A MILE TO THE CIA ANNEX NEAR THE 'EMBASSY'.

THE 5 SURVIVORS HAVE STATED THAT THE CIA AGENTS PROVIDED VERY LITTLE FIREPOWER FOR THEM, THAT SOME CHOSE TO HIDE INSIDE THE ANNEX WHILE THE TEAM FOUGHT OUTSIDE.THEY LOST TWO OF THEIR OWN, TWO WHO DIED ATOP A BUILDING AND WERE THEN THROWN OFF THAT BUILDING BY CIA AGENTS TO BE LOADED FOR TRANSPORT TO THE AIRPORT.THE THROWING OFF THE ROOF OF THOSE TWO COMERADES' BODIES OUTRAGED THE SURVIVORS.

WHO KNEW WHETHER THEY YET HAD LIFE IN THEM OR NOT?WHY DISRESPECT THE DEAD IN THAT MANNER?

(2) THE CIA REQUESTED AIRSTRIKES AND THEN A PLANE TO GET THEM OUT.THEY DID NOT REQUEST ON-THE-GROUND MILITARY REINFORCEMENTS FROM TRIPOLI.

WE NOW KNOW THAT STEVENS MADE SEVERAL PHONECALLS TO LIBYANS WHO HAD BEEN PAID TO SECURE THE COMPLEX, TRYING TO GET HELP.HIS CALLS WERE NOT REPLIED TO.

WHOM DID THE CIA CALL?THEIR TEAM IN TRIPOLI.... HOURS AWAY.

WHAT DID THE CIA ASK FOR WHEN THEY DID TALK TO AMERICAN OFFICIALS, THE MILITARY?NOT REINFORCEMENTS, BUT MERELY AN AIRSTRIKE THEY KNEW COULD NOT HAPPEN AND A PLANE TO GET THEM OUT.

(3) STEVENS AND SMITH WERE ABANDONED BY THE LONE CIA AGENT CHARGED WITH PROTECTING THEM THAT NIGHT AFTER THE ATTACK BEGAN.

WHY WAS ONLY ONE MAN WITH THEM AND WHY DID HE SEPARATE STEVENS AND SMITH FROM THE MAIN BODY OF AMERICANS IN THAT COMPLEX?

WOULDN'T THEY HAVE BEEN SAFER WITH A LARGER GROUP OF ARMED MEN WHEN THE ATTACK FIRST STARTED?SINCE HE RAN TO THE ANNEX, AWAY FROM THE 'EMBASSY', WHY DIDN'T HE RUN THERE WITH THE TWO OTHER MEN INITIALLY?

THOSE THREE AND ONLY THOSE THREE WERE INSIDE THAT BUILDING, SO ONLY THREE MEN COULD TELL US WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THAT AGENT SAVED HIMSELF BY CLIMBING OUT A BATHROOM WINDOW, LEAVING STEVENS AND SMITH BEHIND.

HE STATED HE COULD NOT SEE THROUGH THE SMOKE TO RESCUE THE TWO HE STATES HE "THOUGHT WERE RIGHT BEHIND" HIM. HE SAID THAT HIS ATTEMPTS TO RELOCATE THE PAIR FAILED, SO HE RAN TO THE ANNEX WHERE MANY OTHERS WERE WHO WERE ARMED.

HE SAW WELL ENOUGH TO LOCATE THAT WINDOW, IN THE "DARK SMOKE" AND GET HIMSELF OUT.(4) STEVENS WAS STILL BARELY ALIVE WHEN THE "FRIENDLY" LIBYANS FINALLY SHOWED UP.WE HAVE VIDEO PROOF HE WAS STILL BREATHING WHEN THEY CARRIED HIM OUT AND TOOK HIM TO A LOCAL HOSPITAL.

IF THEY COULD FIND STEVENS IN THE "THICK SMOKE", IF THEY COULD GET HIM OUT AND TRANSPORTED AWAY FROM THE EMBASSY, WHY COULDN'T THE CIA WHOSE MEMBERS THERE OUTNUMBERED THE LIBYAN PARTY WHO FOUND STEVENS?

(5) THERE WERE ONLY 6 MEMBERS OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT AMONG THOSE EVACUATED FROM THE BENGHAZI COMPLEX.THE OTHER 20+ WERE ARMED CIA AGENTS.

WHAT HAD THE CIA BEEN DOING ALL THE TIME DURING THE ATTACK?THE SPECIAL TEAM SURVIVORS DID STATE THAT FEW OF THE CIA HELPED THEM FIGHT AGAINST THE ATTACKERS, SO WHAT WERE THEY DOING?

THEY WERE PACKING BOX-AFTER-BOX OF UNSHREDDED DOCUMENTS AND COMPUTERS AND OTHER EQUIPMENT WHICH THEY THEN LOADED ONTO RESCUE VEHICLES AND TOOK WITH THEM TO THE AIRPORT WHEN THEY FLEW OUT TO TRIPOLI.

WHY WAS THAT MORE IMPORTANT THAN STEVENS?

WHAT WAS IN THOSE PAPERS THEY SHREDDED?

WHY DID THEY SPEND TIME ON GATHERING THOSE THINGS WHILE STEVENS AND SMITH NEEDED HELP?

THOSE ARE SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THE SPECIAL TEAM SURVIVORS HAVE ASKED IN THE BOOK THEY HAVE HAD WRITTEN ABOUT THAT NIGHT IN BENGHAZI.

THOSE ARE QUESTIONS THAT CONGRESS AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE SHOULD BE DEMANDING ANSWERS TO.

NOW, YOU SEE, THAT "CHAIN OF COMMAND" HAS SHIFTED.

NOW CONGRESS IS IN CHARGE OF FINDING OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, BUT INSTEAD OF INTERROGATING THE CIA, INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT THE DRONE FOOTAGE AND ASSESSING THE REAL SITUATION FROM THAT FOOTAGE, CONGRESS HAS FOCUSED FOR YEARS NOW ON JUST ONE THING... OLD HILLARY CLINTON.

NOT GETTING TO THE BOTTOM OF HOW AND WHY THE CIA FAILED SO MISERABLY, NOT WHY THEIR OWN TEAM WAS ORDERED NOT TO TRY TO RESCUE AN AMERICAN AMBASSADOR, NOT HOW THOSE TWO ON THAT ROOF REALLY DIED, NOT WHY THE CIA DIDN'T GO IN AND GET STEVENS AS THOSE LIBYANS DID, NOT WHY A SPECIAL TEAM OF PHYSICIANS WAS NOT CALLED TO TRY TO SAVE STEVENS IN THAT LIBYAN HOSPITAL, NOT WHY THERE WAS NEVER AN INDEPENDENT AUTOPSY PERFORMED ON STEVENS AND SMITH, NOT WHY ONE MAN SAID STEVENS WAS PERHAPS MURDERED BY "HIS OWN"AND IF THAT WERE REMOTELY POSSIBLE...

CONGRESS HAS FOCUSED ON ONE THING...THAT GOP-LED COMMITTEE HAS NEVER FOCUSED ON ANYTHING ELSE, JUST AS THE GOP-MAJORITY CONGRESS HAS ... HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, WHOM THEY ARE TERRIFIED WILL WIN THE NEXT ELECTION.

THEY KNEW BETTER IN 2014!"The Senate Intelligence Committee released a bipartisan report in January 2014 calling the Benghazi attacks "preventable."

The report also faulted intelligence officials for not relaying information on the CIA annex to the U.S. military."But no one within the CIA was faulted ENOUGH for Congress to raise hell about that, right?

THE CIA WAS THERE BEFORE STEVENS WAS NAMED AMBASSADOR.THEY KNEW EXTRA SECURITY WAS NEEDED WHICH IS WHY THEY HIRED SO MANY LOCALS AND 'MERCENARIES'.

THEY WERE HIDING SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T WANT THE U.S. MILITARY OR THE STATE DEPARTMENT TO GET INVOLVED IN!THE CONGRESS IS NOW THE TOP RUNG IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND TO GET TO THE TRUTH OF BENGHAZI, BUT THEY ARE NOW TURNING, YET AGAIN, TO, OF ALL THINGS, EMAILS SENT AND RECEIVED BY HILLARY CLINTON, AND NOT EMAILS ON THE COMPUTERS OF THE BENGHAZI CIA STATION.

WHY THE HELL DIDN'T THEY CONFISCATE THOSE CIA COMPUTERS THAT WERE HAULED OUT OF BENGHAZI WITH THOSE DEAD BODIES?

WHY DIDN'T THEY CALL BACK THE TEAM SURVIVORS, THE MEN WHO WERE RIGHT THERE AND SAW THINGS NO ONE ELSE WILL SPEAK OF?

WHY ISN'T CONGRESS, WHO IS IN CHARGE OF DISCOVERING THE FACTS NOW, QUESTIONING, AS CARTER HAM DID IN HIS TESTIMONY BEFORE THEM, WHY STEVENS TWICE REFUSED HAM'S OFFER OF MILITARY SECURITY REINFORCEMENTS FROM TRIPOLI JUST DAYS BEFORE THAT ATTACK, WHEN STEVENS HAD REPEATEDLY COMPLAINED SUCH SECURITY WAS NEEDED SO MANY TIMES BEFORE.HAM FOUND THAT VERY ODD... WHY DIDN'T CONGRESS LOOK INTO THAT?

AND ON CLINTON.... WHY DIDN'T CONGRESS FOCUS ON WHY THE STATE DEPARTMENT FAILED TO ADDRESS STEVENS' REPEATED COMPLAINTS OF A LACK OF SECURITY, HIS REPEATED WARNINGS THAT THE SITUATION WAS RAPIDLY DETERIORATING IN BENGHAZI?

IT SHOULDN'T HAVE FALLEN TO HAM TO OFFER SUCH SUPPORT.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT SHOULD HAVE MADE ITS OWN EVALUATION OF THE NEED, GIVEN THE FAILURE OF THE CIA IN TIMES PAST TO PROVIDE "GOOD INTELLIGENCE".

WHY HADN'T THE OTHER FEW MEMBERS OF 'STATE' INSIDE THAT COMPOUND ALSO RAISED HELL ABOUT THE DETERIORATING CONDITIONS THERE PRIOR TO THAT FATEFUL MONTH OF SEPTEMBER?

WHY DID THE CIA HIDE THE FACTS THEY WERE INTERROGATING PRISONERS AND RUNNING GUNS ?

THOSE TWO DISCLOSURES ALONE WOULD HAVE SURELY WARRANTED A LOT OF EXTRA MILITARY SECURITY THERE.

WELL, ACTUALLY, THOSE TWO THINGS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DONE BY THE CIA THERE.THOSE TWO THINGS ARE WHAT SO INCITED THE LOCAL HIRES THAT THEY TURNED ON THE 'EMBASSY' AND THOSE WHO WERE PAYING THEM, TOLD OTHER LOCALS WHAT WAS GOING ON, AND SO ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE THAT NIGHT.

WHY DID STATE DEPARTMENT OKAY THE HIRING OF LIBYANS OVER AMERICAN MILITARY SUPPORT AND MILITARY SECURITY INSIDE THE 'EMBASSY'?

WAS 'STATE' AWARE OF THE PRISONER INTERROGATIONS THAT LIKELY INVOLVED TORTURE, AS WE ARE NOW LEARNING? MILITARY BRASS SAY THEY SURE DIDN'T KNOW THE CIA WAS THERE IN SUCH FORCE, OR THAT PRISONERS WERE THERE OR THAT ARMS FOR SYRIAN "REBELS" WERE BEING ROUNDED UP FROM THAT COMPLEX.

ARE THOSE CROOKED CONGRESSMEN, THOSE PERPETUAL LIARS, THOSE WALL STREET SELL-OUTS, SO AFRAID OF THE DIRT THAT THE CIA LIKELY HAS ON ALL OF THEM THAT THEY JUST ARE TOO AFRAID TO ASK THE QUESTIONS THAT SPECIAL TEAM IS ASKING, THE QUESTIONS MANY IN AMERICA ARE ASKING?

SURELY CONGRESS WAS AND IS AWARE OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND WHICH GOVERNS ANY AND ALL TROOP DEPLOYMENT...THAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT NEVER COULD HAVE ISSUED A STAND-DOWN ORDER.

IT WAS CONGRESS WHO PASSED THE GOLDWATER-NICHOLS ACT THAT MAKES IT CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT ONLY THE PRESIDENT AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, (THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE AND THE JOINT CHIEFS AFTER THAT), CAN ORDER ANY MILITARY PERSONNEL ANYWHERE ON THIS GLOBE!

THAT CONGRESS SPENT 4 YEARS AND MILLIONS OF OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS TRYING TO MAKE SURE CLINTON DIDN'T GET ELECTED INSTEAD OF FINDING OUT WHY 4 MEN HAD TO DIE THAT NIGHT WHEN THE CIA ITSELF MIGHT HAVE BEEN EITHER THE CAUSE OF THEIR DEATHS OR THE ACTUAL KILLERS IS AN OUTRAGE THAT WE, THE PEOPLE, SHOULD NOT ALLOW A DAY LONGER!

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POSTSCRIPT ON SOURCES: Any and all sources, documentation of events, testimonies, transcripts, etc, can be found in 3 previous posts in the Tea Room.